Local Boy Needs Everyone To Like Him
by starspangledpumpkin
Summary: So, so much.


**Wigtown Wanderers**

**Chaser 1**

**Prompt: Strength (Reversed) - Self-Doubt, Weakness, Insecurity**

**Additional Prompts: [song] Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin; [quote] "That is such a bizarre request I have to agree to it." The Princess Bride, William Goldman; [restriction] No Gryffindors or Slytherins**

**Space Address: D5 - Beach**

**Challenges: Hufflepuff MC; Ravenclaw MC; Short Jog; Quiet Time; Neurodivergent**

**Word Count: 1067 (not counting the lyrics)**

**Warnings: Anxiety, self-deprecation, and bad parenting.**

~o0o~

_Don't cut me down, throw me out, leave me here to waste_

_I once was a man with dignity and grace_

_Now I'm slipping through the cracks of your cold embrace_

_So please, please_

Let Me Down Slowly by Alec Benjamin

A week after the First Task, Cedric Diggory stood in a tree-sheltered area on the shore of the Black Lake and stared out at the dark water. The first fat snowflakes drifted on the wind promising to cover the campus entirely by the following morning. He paid no attention to the chill that chapped his lips, froze his cheeks, and turned his hands red. Instead, the First Task played over and over in his mind. Every mistake he made, what he could have done better, what he _should_ have done.

The worst part was seeing everyone's faces in the Common Room once it was all over. Those fake smiles, the assurances that winning wasn't everything, yet the obvious disappointment that their Champion, prefect, and Quidditch Captain had failed so horribly. Got burned and landed his butt in last place. A fourteen-year-old had placed higher than he did.

And yet, he was expected to smile and act as if nothing were wrong. Continue on being the person everyone relied on to solve problems. As if he didn't have enough problems of his own.

Shouting, Cedric hurled a stone at the water and plunked down on a fallen log. Not realizing its brittleness, his butt fell right through and his knees were up to his ears.

"Oh, great! What else can go wrong?"

"What else can go wrong indeed," said a dreamy voice. "It could rain, you could catch a cold, a crumple-horned snorkack could creep up and attack you while you are using the toilet! So much could go wrong."

Cedric smiled despite himself and turned his head the best he could to look at his cousin. Well, second cousin. They had grown up together and he was present that awful summer when Aunt Pandora died. If he hadn't pulled Luna out of the way, she would have been crushed by the wall, too. It's always been his personal mission to look out for her and make sure she had a place to fit in. Someone to talk to about her conspiracies and creatures that may or may not exist.

Luna carefully sat down beside where he was stuck.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm stuck in a log, do I look alright?"

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

He huffed and the movement caused him to slide further into the hole. He wiggled his feet and resigned himself to his fate.

"I won't help you out until you talk about what's eating you," said Luna.

"Well, this log has been here a while, I suppose it wasn't too happy about me sitting on it."

Luna laughed and quickly composed herself long enough to fix him with a stern look. Cedric puffed his fringe out of his face and gave in. If he could talk about this to anyone it would be Luna.

"I'm a failure," he said. "Everyone was depending on me and I messed up."

"I thought the dog was a clever idea."

"See, that's the thing! I wasn't even going to use a dog! Dragon's don't eat dogs; they eat sheep! I was going to make a sheep and I made a dog instead. And to add injury to insult, I got burned." He touched his face, which was still soft from new skin growth. "You should've seen how everyone looked at me. They're still looking at me that way! And that prig Atwood from Ravenclaw scared me with a dragon roar in class. I knocked over Professor Moody's fancy magnifying glass."

"You shouldn't let what people say get to you," said Luna. "I mean… I do, but you shouldn't."

"I need people to like me so much, Luna," he stressed. "You don't understand, if I find out someone doesn't like me I just feel sick. If I slip even a little I could lose someone's trust forever, you know?"

"I guess. What did Auntie Bel say?"

"Mum said that it was just the First Task and I can still bounce back for the Second Task."

"And Uncle Amos?"

Cedric dug into the inside pocket of his jacket and handed the letter to her. Luna took it and read it aloud.

"Cedric. What were you thinking with that dog? You should have known better that dragons enjoy sheep, you waste enough of your time herding them back home. I don't want to hear about you moping around, you have grades to focus on. If you want to keep being a simple farm boy then go ahead and remain on track. We can't have a fourteen-year-old outdo you." She turned her wide-gaze to him. "Dobby's sock, Cedric. No wonder you're in a foul mood."

"Who's Dobby and what does his sock have to do with anything?"

"Don't change the subject!" Luna stood and took her wand out from behind her ear so she could free him.

He stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I know what will make you feel better," said Luna cheerfully.

"Biscuits and ice cream?"

"No. Well, yes, but I had something different in mind that doesn't involve eating your feelings."

"And what is that?"

"We're going to scream them out. We're far enough away from the school, nobody can hear us." Luna approached the water. "Scream wildly into the abyss with me."

"That is such a bizarre request I have to agree to it," said Cedric, genuinely smiling for the first time in weeks.

He stood next to her. Luna counted to three and the two of them screamed out at the water, scaring nearby birds and frogs. It felt good to let out all his pent up frustrations. A branch snapped and Viktor Krum swung around a tree with his wand raised.

"Where is danger?" he asked.

Cedric and Luna looked at each other and laughed. The Bulgarian lowered his wand and sheepishly holstered it when he realized there was no danger.

"Sorry to startle you, mate," said Cedric. "Sometimes a person has to stand on the edge of a lake or cliff and scream."

"Would you like to scream with us?" Luna asked.

Viktor slowly shook his head. No doubt he thought they were mad, but for once Cedric couldn't bring himself to care.

"Suit yourself."

Once they had their fill, the cousins made their way back to the castle to snag a few pre-dinner sweets. Cedric's fears and insecurities could wait until tomorrow.


End file.
